New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will likely inaugurate the country's vaccination drive against the coronavirus through video conferencing, sources said. The inoculation campaign, billed as the world's largest, is scheduled to start from January 16.
PM Modi will likely virtually interact with health workers at some locations on the day of the launch of the vaccine drive, sources said, adding select hospitals in states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi have been asked to make preparations.
Health and frontline workers at Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital - one of the country's biggest Covid hospitals - will get vaccinated first. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and minister Satyendar Jain will attend the inaugural event.
The country's drug regulator has approved Covishield, the Oxford vaccine being manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech's homegrown Covaxin for restricted emergency use.
India's COVID-19 caseload increased to 1,04,95,147 with 15,968 infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1,01,29,111 pushing the national recovery rate to 96.51 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The deaths increased to 1,51,529 with 202 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Meanwhile, the North and South Delhi Municipal Corporations have banned the sale of chicken in their respective regions, following confirmation of bird flu cases in the national capital. The civic bodies also warned hotels and restaurants of action if they served egg-based dishes or poultry meat.
Here are the LIVE updates:
Jan 14, 2021 01:50 (IST)
Coronavirus news: WHO says around 28 million vaccine doses injected so far
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that about 28 million vaccine doses have been administered so far in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic -- largely in the wealthiest countries.
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said around 46 countries had started their coronavirus vaccination campaigns -- of which 38 were high-income countries.
"We've about 28 million vaccine doses that have been administered so far. Five different vaccines or platforms have been used," he told a live WHO social media event.
"Forty-six countries, approximately, are now vaccinating. But only one of those countries is a low-income country," he said.
"There are populations out there who want and need vaccines who are not going to get them unless and until we begin to share better."
Jan 14, 2021 01:19 (IST)
COVID-19 latest news: US vaccinates 10 million against but remains behind target
More than 10 million people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, official data showed Wednesday, even as the country remains behind its immunization targets.
Of 29,380,125 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines sent to states, 10,278,462 have been administered as first doses, according to the CDC's tracker.
That is around 3.1 percent of the total population of roughly 330 million people -- though vaccines are not yet available to children.
The US has vaccinated more people than any other Western country, but rollout has fallen far behind goals set by authorities, who had hoped to reach 20 million people by the end of December.
As a percentage of population vaccinated, Israel is leading the world, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Britain, then the US.
As part of efforts to expand access to Covid vaccines, the federal government said this week it would allow makers to release all their available doses instead of reserving booster shots.
